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Semi Pearl
}} The Semi Pearl is a 4.5×6cm folder, released by Konishiroku (the later Konica) in 1938, and succeeded in 1949 by the Pearl (I). The name "Pearl" was used by Konishiroku for many other models of rollfilm folders. Other articles deal with the early Pearl for plates and rollfilm, the Pearl No.2, the self-erecting 6×9 Pearl, the postwar Pearl (I), II and III and Pearl IV, and the Baby Pearl and Pearlette cameras. Description The Semi Pearl is a vertical folder much inspired by the Ikonta A. The three-part folding struts are curved and are engraved with Konishiroku's logo: a five-petal cherry blossom containing the Japanese character 六 (the roku within both "Rokuoh-sha" and "Konishiroku"). The name SEMI PEARL is embossed in the leather covering at the front. The body edges are chrome plated on the early examples and black painted on later cameras (see below). There is a folding optical finder at the top, as seen by the photographer holding the camera horizontally. Its rear part is chrome plated and its front part is black. The folding bed release is on the right, easily mistaken for the shutter release; it simultaneously opens the finder. The actual shutter release is on the front door, close to the hinge, and is tripped by the photographer's left hand — a position which was perhaps inspired by Voigtländer's Bessa. The back is hinged to the left for film loading, and the latch on the right is covered by a short handle. The film is advanced by a key at the bottom right, and its position is manually controlled via red windows. Most examples have unit-focusing: the lens and shutter assembly is mounted on a focusing helix driven by a small tab running on a distance scale engraved in metres or feet. A few cameras have front-cell focusing instead, presumably because of a shortage of parts (see below). The shutter of the Semi Pearl is either an Apus (10–100, B, T) or a Durax (1–100, B, T). Both were made by Rokuoh-sha, later Konishiroku. Both have a cocking lever, and none has flash synchronization (on some examples, this feature was added as an aftermarket conversion). The Semi Pearl normally have an Optor 7.5cm f/4.5 three-element lens or a Hexar 7.5cm f/4.5 four-element lens, but a few have a Hexar Ser.II 7.5cm f/3.8, surely not an original version (see below). The Optor was reputedly manufactured by Asahi Kōgaku (predecessor of Pentax) under license from Konishiroku, but its production was perhaps taken back by Konishiroku at some time. Optor manufactured by Asahi Kōgaku: Sakai, p.12 of no.10, Lewis, p.182, this page of the R. Konishi website. The lens is registered as made by Konishiroku in the , lens items Jc15 and Ld1 (for the Baby Pearl and Pearlette). Evolution Original chrome model The Semi Pearl was released at the beginning of 1938: it was advertised in from January 1938, and was featured in the new products column of the February 1938 issue of the same magazine. , p.338. (Lewis, p.54, says 1937.) A number of advertisements dated 1938 and 1939 show the chrome finish, which surely corresponds to the early cameras. Advertisements in the June 1938 and January 1939 issues of and in the August and December 1938 issues of Kogata Camera, reproduced in , p.82. They list two versions of the camera: one has the Optor 7.5cm f/4.5 lens and Apus shutter (10–100, B, T) and is priced at , and the other has the Hexar 7.5cm f/4.5 lens and Durax shutter (1–100, B, T) and is priced at . Examples of the chrome Semi Pearl are known with the two advertised combinations: Apus and Optor or Durax and Hexar Ser.1. The back has two red windows, placed towards the top and protected by a common slider, a configuration similar to that of contemporary Pearl (6×9cm), Baby Pearl or Luxury Pearlette. The Durax or Apus have the first shutter plate design, marked Rokuoh-sha under the lens. The shutter name is inscribed on a plate attached at the top by two screws, and the aperture scale is engraved on another separate plate at the bottom. The lens is marked Rokuoh-sha too, and usually has a chrome bezel. (The focal length is usually engraved as 7.5cm, but extremely early Optor lenses have 75m.m instead.) 75m.m: examples pictured in Hagiya, p.60 of no.8, and in Tanaka, p.44 of no.10. The name SEMI PEARL embossed in the front leather has a rectangular frame. It seems that the earliest examples have a small focusing tab (visible in the advertisements cited above); it was soon replaced by a larger part. Small focusing tab: examples pictured in Yamawaki, p.109 of no.4, in Hagiya, p.60 of no.8, in Tanaka, p.44 of no.10, and observed in online auctions. Transition to the black model The chrome plating on the body edges was replaced by black paint at some time, perhaps during the early 1940s. The lens bezel of the Hexar and Optor lenses became black at about the same time, or slightly earlier. One isolated example, observed in an online auction, is known with chrome finish and a black bezel. The only example confirmed so far of the Rokuoh-sha Optor with black bezel is pictured in , item 1156. These early black Semi Pearl still have the Rokuoh-sha markings on the lens and shutter, and have no other change. They are known with the Apus and Optor or Durax and Hexar Ser.1 combinations. Examples pictured in , item 1156, and observed in online auctions. The Semi Pearl appears in the official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, in two versions called "Semi Pearl I" (¥80) and "Semi Pearl II" (¥121), certainly corresponding to the Optor and Hexar versions. , type 3, sections 3B and 6B. The same versions appear again in a similar price list dated November 1941. , type 3, sections 3B and 6B. The Konishiroku company was reorganized in April 1943 as Konishiroku Shashin Kōgyō K.K., and its retail and wholesale activities were stopped (see Konica). The production of civilian cameras was perhaps brought to a halt at about the same time. The last wartime document mentioning the Semi Pearl is the April 1943 government inquiry on Japanese camera production (showing the new company name Konishiroku Shashin Kōgyō), where it is listed with the Hexar lens only. , item 67. Early postwar period The production of the Semi Pearl was resumed after the war's end, Lewis, p.60, says 1945. at first using stocks of older parts. It is said that the price was set at in July 1946 for the version called "Semi Pearl B". Lewis, p.60. Advertisements were placed in Japanese magazines from October 1946. , p.358. Transition to Konishiroku markings The earliest cameras assembled after 1945 are certainly indistinguishable from the late wartime production. The Rokuoh-sha markings were gradually replaced by KONISHIROKU equivalents, certainly a consequence of the change in the company name which took place in 1943. Miyazaki, pp.12–3, explains this for the Baby Pearl. It is similarly mentioned in Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten, p.18. Given the circumstances of the time, cameras engraved Rokuoh-sha were certainly still sold after 1945. One example — with Rokuoh-sha Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5 lens no.22540 and Rokuoh-sha Durax shutter — has a ROKUOH–SHA embossing on the back leather, together with the words MADE IN JAPAN, certainly indicating a postwar origin (Japanese products made during the war had no such indication of origin in English language). The earliest KONISHIROKU marking known so far is on the back covering of a camera with Rokuoh-sha Hexar Ser.1 lens no.23051 and Rokuoh-sha Durax shutter — it is embossed in large letters, together with the same MADE IN JAPAN marking. Example observed in an online auction. These observations tend to indicate Konishiroku markings did not appear until 1945. The next noticeable change appearing on the early postwar Semi Pearl was the adoption of the second shutter plate design, modified with the Konishiroku marking and different metal stripes on the sides of the lens, of markedly unequal length. The main plate was used for both the Durax and Apus, and the shutter name was added on a separate plate screwed at the top. The aperture scale, screwed to the bottom, normally has a new shape with square ends, looking more modern than on previous cameras. It seems likely that only the serial production of the Durax was actually resumed. A single Apus shutter is known so far with a Konishiroku marking; it is mounted on an example with front-cell focusing (see below) and still has the old type of aperture scale. Example pictured in , p.545. At about the same time, the Rokuoh-sha marking on the Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5 lens was replaced by a Konishiroku marking. It is likely that these lenses were the first ones produced after the war, and the serial number of the Hexar Ser.1 was perhaps reset to 30000. There is a gap between Rokuoh-sha lens no.23051 and Konishiroku lens no.30906, observed in online auctions. The first cameras with a distance scale in feet seem to appear around the same time. The picture on the left shows a typical camera from that period, with the second shutter plate design and a Konishiroku Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5 lens. Picture from December 1949, p.37. The picture was certainly taken by Konishiroku's commercial department. It also appears in Akiyama, p.10 of Semi Pāru no jōzu na tsukaikata, published in August 1948. The picture was already outdated by the time, and the same book has pictures of later versions of the Semi Pearl. Front-cell focusing cameras Among the cameras made in the early postwar period, some only have front-cell focusing, certainly because of a shortage of parts. These were surely made in tough times, when the wartime stocks began to ran out and before orderly production could start again. (The same occurred to other Japanese manufacturers at the same period, see for example the shortage of shutters for the Olympus Six.) All the front-cell focusing Semi Pearl observed so far have a Hexar Ser.1 7.5cm f/4.5 lens. Some have an older lens with chrome bezel and four-digit number, and an Apus shutter with Rokuoh-sha markings; Examples pictured in , item 1384 (four-digit number probable but unconfirmed), in Miyazaki, p.128 (four digits), and in Yamawaki, p.110 of no.4 (four digits). these parts were surely taken from old stocks. The others have a black lens bezel and the newer Konishiroku shutter plate; one has an Apus (see above), Example pictured in , p.545. and another has a Durax and lens no.311xx. Example pictured in Yamawaki, p.110 of no.4. Towards regular production again Further cosmetic changes After this difficult transition period, it seems that the production of the Semi Pearl reached a regular pace. Several cosmetic changes were introduced to the cameras, typical of the regular postwar Semi Pearl. The SEMI PEARL embossing in the front leather was slightly modified with a hexagonal instead of a rectangular frame. The KONISHIROKU embossing in the back leather was modified simultaneously, and was inscribed in smaller letters inside a hexagon, with no MADE IN JAPAN marking. The shutter plate was modified once again, with direct stamping of the Durax name and aperture scale replacing the small screwed plates. After some time, the lens name Hexar Ser.1 was simplified to Hexar — the transition occurred somewhere in the 35xxx to 38xxx serial range. The last observed Hexar Ser.1 7.5cm f/4.5 has no.35895, and the first observed Hexar 7.5cm f/4.5 has no.38527. The introduction of lens coating might have occurred at the same time, but this is unconfirmed. None of the civilian Japanese cameras made before 1945 has a coated lens. Coating is mentioned for the Semi Pearl in the column in December 1949, p.36. The exact date of the transition is unclear. The camera pictured below corresponds to the regular postwar Semi Pearl, incorporating the said changes. It has a diamond-shaped CPO logo engraved in black in the standing leg. (This stands for Central Purchasing Office and means that the camera was intended for sale at an American military Post Exchange facility.) Revival of the Optor lens It seems that there was a brief attempt at reviving the production of the Optor f/4.5 lenses, and a few such lenses are found with Konishiroku markings on a black bezel. The license contracts with Asahi Kōgaku were surely invalid by that time, and these new Optor lenses were surely assembled by Konishiroku itself. The serial number was perhaps reset at 1000: at least two such lenses are known with a four-digit number in the 1xxx range, on cameras with the late type of shutter plate. Example pictured in Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten, p.18, and example observed in an online auction. The only other Konishiroku Optor observed so far has no.60267; this might correspond to a very late batch whose numbers were taken on the Hexar sequence, but the details are completely unknown. Last model with single red window The last Semi Pearl have a single red window in the back, near the bottom, protected by a cover horizontally sliding under a metal plate. (The back is therefore identical to that of the Pearl I.) This version is pictured in the book Semi Pāru no jōzu na tsukaikata by Akiyama Seiji, published in August 1948 — it was thus already in existence by that time. The Semi Pearl with a single red window are not uncommon today, and were produced for a number of months, certainly until the release of the Pearl I in late 1949 or early 1950. (The last known mention of the Semi Pearl is in the December 1949 issue of , on Japanese cameras.) December 1949, pp.36–7. The production was completely stabilized and no minor variation is visible, except for the distance scale in metres or feet, or the occasional MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN marking on the front leather, opposite the name. Nearly all the examples have the Durax and Hexar f/4.5, and lens numbers are known from 44xxx to 62xxx, in a sequence which is perhaps shared with other Hexar lenses. The only exception confirmed so far is a camera with a Hexar Ser.II f/3.8 lens, described below. Hexar Ser.II f/3.8 lens Isolated examples of the Semi Pearl are found with a Hexar Ser.II f/3.8 lens. At least three examples have been observed so far. All have Rokuoh-sha markings on a chrome bezel, giving a typical 1930s aspect, but they were surely assembled after 1945. The camera pictured below is clearly a composite, with lens no.4154 mounted on a Compur-Rapid shutter (T, B, 1–500). The body itself was perhaps made during the war. Its leather covering has the rectangular SEMI PEARL embossing at the front and the ROKUOH–SHA embossing on the back, without MADE IN JAPAN. The lens and shutter unit might come from a military camera, perhaps for aerial photography: the Compur-Rapid has two holes on the rim, which might correspond to an attachment for some external lever to control the shutter speeds from outside the casing of an aerial camera. The aperture scale goes all the way from 3.8 to 32, presumably indicating that the lens and shutter were attached together from the start. The shutter is smaller than the Durax, and the position of the controls are different, making the body release inoperative. Another camera has lens no.4017 on a Durax shutter. Example pictured in Yokogawa, p.38 of no.10. It is probably the same camera that was sold as lot no.657 of Westlicht Photographica auction no.6 (November 6, 2004). It has the late type of shutter plate, with the aperture scale directly printed at the bottom, from 4.5 to 22. The graduation for f/3.8 was engraved by hand, next to 4.5. The body has the hexagonal SEMI PEARL embossing and a KONISHIROKU embossing on the back, and was made after 1945. (The number of red windows is unknown.) The third camera is very similar, and is confirmed to have a single red window on the back. Example offered for sale by a Japanese dealer. The lens number is perhaps 390x. Its aperture scale has no f/3.8 position at all. It seems obvious that the f/3.8 Semi Pearl was not an official version sold by Konishiroku. It is likely that the Hexar Ser.II f/3.8 lenses were made for a different purpose in the late 1930s or early 1940s, perhaps in association with the Compur-Rapid shutter on some military camera. A small stock of these was perhaps discovered after 1945, and mounted on a handful of Semi Pearl bodies. This might have occurred within the Konishiroku factory, perhaps as a private initiative by some worker. Notes Sources and further reading Original documents * Akiyama Seiji (秋山青磁). Semi Pāru no jōzu na tsukaikata (セミパールの上手な使い方, How to use the Semi Pearl skillfully). Tokyo: Genkōsha, 1948. * Type 3, sections 3B and 6B. * Item 67. * Type 3, sections 3B and 6B. * December 1949. "Ōru kokusan kamera" (オール国産カメラ, All of Japanese cameras). Pp.36–7. Recent sources * Items 169 and 675. (See also the advertisement for item 168.) * Konika-Minoruta-ten (コニカミノルタ展, Konica Minolta exhibition). Exhibition catalogue. Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2005. * Pp.54, 60 and 65. * P.545. * Miyazaki Shigemoto (宮崎繁幹). Konika kamera no 50nen: Konika I-gata kara Hekisā RF e (コニカカメラの50年：コニカI型からヘキサーRFへ, Fifty years of Konica cameras: From the Konica I to the Hexar RF). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 2003. ISBN 4-257-12038-X. Pp.10, 13, 128 and 183. * Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.18. * Sakai Shūichi (酒井修一). "'Anbako' kara 'ōtofōkasu' he: kamera no hensen to tomo ni ayunda 114-nen" (「暗函」から「オートフォーカス」へ・カメラの変遷と共に歩んだ114年, From 'camera obscura' to 'autofocus': 114 years of camera evolution). Pp.8–13. * Items 1155–7 and 1384. * Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Konica history 5. Shōwa 8-nen – 20-nen" (Konica history 5. 昭和8年–20年. From Shōwa year 8 1933 to Shōwa year 20 1945). Pp.40–4. * Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Nihon no supuringu-kamera: Konishiroku" (日本のスプリングカメラ Konishiroku, The spring cameras of Japan: Konishiroku). Pp.58–61. * Yamawaki Kunio (山脇邦男). "Senzen kokusan taishū kamera no genten: Pearl, Semi Pearl" (戦前国産大衆カメラの原点・パール・セミパール, The Pearl and Semi Pearl, origin of the prewar Japanese popular cameras). Pp.108–10. * Yokogawa Takashi (横川孝). "F3.8 tsuki no Semi Pāru shisakuki ni tsuite" (F3.8付きのセミパール試作機について, On the experimental Semi Pearl with f/3.8 lens). P.38. Links In English: * Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar Ser.II f/3.8), lot no.657 of auction no.6 (November 6, 2004) by Westlicht Photographica Auction In Japanese: * Pages of Neco's camera collection: ** Semi Pearl (Apus, Optor f/4.5, Rokuoh-sha markings), with other pictures here and here ** Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5, Rokuoh-sha markings), with other pictures here and here ** Semi Pearl with Konishiroku markings: *** Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5, distance scale in metres) *** Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar f/4.5, distance scale in metres), with other pictures here and here *** Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar f/4.5, distance scale in feet), with other pictures here (some are misidentified), here and here * Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5, Konishiroku markings) with sample pictures at Doru's blog * Semi Pearl (single red window) at Kuramoto Chokusō * (single red window) at M's Photographic Gear * Semi Pearl (non original rangefinder) within a Konica page at Sarusuberi Category: Japanese 4.5x6 viewfinder folding Category: Konica Category: S Pearl, Semi Category: 1938